Want to share your own experiences? Email your guest post to hysterical@sarah-graham.co.uk
Before you start writing
Hysterical Women is a blog inspired by my own work as a freelance health journalist. I launched it in October 2018 after noticing that a common theme in so much of my work was women not being taken seriously, not being trusted to know their own bodies, and having their concerns dismissed or disbelieved by doctors. This cut right across the health spectrum – whether their concerns were related to mental, physical, sexual, or any other kind of health problem. You can find out more on our About page.
I want Hysterical Women to be a place where women and feminists of all genders can explore the sexism and biases in medicine that let so many women down. I feature guest posts from women writing about their own experiences, as well as a weekly roundup of relevant news and research, and interviews with authors whose work covers this subject. But it is a passion project, funded out of my own pocket, produced in my spare time, and generating absolutely no profit, so unfortunately – with the exception of our sponsored mini series – I can’t pay for guest posts.
If you’re still interested, great!
Submission guidelines
Posts are anywhere from 600-1500 words in length, depending on how much you have to say, and informal in tone. I want Hysterical Women to feel like a place where we can virtually put the world to rights over a G&T – so anger, humour, and frustration are all welcome. Your post should be focused on your personal experiences of being dismissed, disbelieved or misdiagnosed in a healthcare setting.
We want to hear how many times you visited your doctor before your concerns were taken seriously, what outrageous comments or misdiagnoses you heard, and how being dismissed impacted on both your life and your health. If your condition is little known, underfunded and under-researched, tell us about the symptoms and their impact on your life, and the struggle to find out more about an illness even doctors and researchers don’t fully understand. If you have strong opinions about your experience, don’t be afraid to express them!
All of that said, please also feel free to quote others or refer to recent research, news, campaigns or events. Have you found support groups, online or in person, where dozens of other women experienced similar types of dismissal? Did researching and diagnosing yourself help you realise it wasn’t “all in your head”? Have you started a campaign off the back of your experience, or helped educate your local GP about a condition they were previously clueless about? We’re keen to hear the bigger picture stuff too.
If you still have any questions, or want to chat further about your story before putting pen to paper, drop me an email: hysterical@sarah-graham.co.uk
Paid opportunities
From time to time I am able to publish paid guest posts, sponsored by brand partners, which will explore the particular experiences of women and AFAB folks from marginalised and under-represented communities. The writers of these posts will be paid £100 each, however I have a very limited budget and cannot pay for everything that is submitted.
If you’re pitching a paid guest post for one of our sponsored series, please send a brief pitch (1-2 paragraphs) outlining your personal experience with the guidelines above in mind – but do not send a completed post unless you’re happy to submit it voluntarily.
I will respond to all pitches within 2-4 weeks, letting you know if I’m able to commission your guest post or not.
If you work for a like-minded brand and would like to find out more about sponsoring guest posts, please get in touch: hysterical@sarah-graham.co.uk